Kushner hails 'very good' meeting with Netanyahu after Hamas talks on Gaza peace plan

Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law and Middle East envoy, has held lengthy talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the premier's spokesperson has told the BBC, in a bid to restart the stalled US-backed Gaza peace plan.

Hailing the "very good meeting", Kushner told Fox News that there could be "progress in as little as 30 days, hopefully, on starting to take some of [Hamas's] weapons out," but added: "we do need cooperation from both sides".

Israel has said that it agrees with the Board of Peace, set up by the president, that there would be no reconstruction in Gaza without Hamas's complete disarmament.

Hamas had earlier asked the board to "compel" Israel to accept the peace plan, after Kushner held rare talks with the group on Sunday.

Trump leads the Board of Peace, which was created as an international organisation originally intended to bring peace to Gaza, but later expanded to include conflicts worldwide.

Last week Israel rejected Trump's 15-point Gaza peace plan.

The document calls for Israeli troops to withdraw and Gaza to be rebuilt under a new civilian Palestinian administration. But Netanyahu said that no military pull-out would happen until Hamas is "genuinely" disarmed.

Speaking to Fox New late on Monday, Kushner said his meeting with Netanyahu lasted almost four hours.

"I think there were some valid concerns that they raised that we were able to address," he said, adding that it would be a "win-win situation" for Israel if it accepted the peace plan.

When asked about his meeting with Hamas, Kushner replied: "They said all the right things - but obviously it's very, very hard to trust a terrorist organisation that committed these terrible atrocities.

"But we had a very cordial meeting... We [are] gonna give them a chance to perform."

According to Israeli media reports, Board of Peace envoys Nickolay Mladenov and Tony Blairalso met Netanyahu on Monday.

In a statement after the meeting, the Israeli prime minister's office struck a diplomatic tone, saying Netanyahu and the board had "deep and constructive discussions".

It said they "agreed to establish two working groups, one on disarmament and demilitarisation of Gaza, which both Israel and the Board of Peace are determined should be prompt and completed before any reconstruction happens in Gaza".

It added that a second working group "will focus on sanitation, clean water and other public health issues for the people of Gaza and which also impact the people of Israel".

Many Israelis remain sceptical that Hamas is ready to disarm.

The Board of Peace wants to show that the peace plan for Gaza can still move forward - despite Netanyahu's firm rejection of a new roadmap.

Hamas has agreed to give up its weapons in exchange for a phased Israeli troop withdrawal. But Israel has insisted that Hamas must fully disarm before any Israeli pullout.

It also wants anyweapons that Hamas gives up to be destroyed, rather than stored by a Palestinian technocratic committee, so that Hamas cannot reclaim them.

In addition, there is opposition to Turkey and Qatar being involved in checks on whether Hamas is meeting its requirements under the deal.

Pushing Netanyahu to change his position will be an uphill struggle.

He has appeared increasingly willing to defy the US - his country's closest ally - as his party struggles in polls ahead of October's Israeli general election, and with members of his governing coalition pushing for a tougher strategy in Gaza.

The far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has called for nightly "targeted eliminations" of "30 or 40" people in Gaza.

In a podcast interview with Rom Braslavski, who was taken hostage by Hamas during the 7 October 2023 attack, that aired on 15 August, Ben-Gvir said: "Not just those who pose an immediate threat - there are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn't live. They're not even people."

The comments were reported by the Associated Press, the Financial Times and the Times of Israel.

Ahead of Monday's meeting between Kushner and Netanyahu,aPalestinian official told the BBCthat Trump's son-in-law met a delegation led by Hamas's new leader Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt on Sunday.

In a statement, Hamas later called on mediators and the Board of Peace to "compel" Israel to approve the roadmap for the next steps.

Kushner's meeting with Hayya is believed to be the first at this level since last year's agreement of a ceasefire for the Gaza Strip.

Mladenov, high representative for Gaza to the Board of Peace, and Blair, a former UK prime minister, were also part of the meeting, alongside representatives of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have mediated in the peace efforts.

No official statement was released on the talks, reportedly focusing on concrete actions to decommission Hamas's weapons, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli troops and humanitarian efforts.

A source with knowledge of the meeting told CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that the meeting's contents included "beginning to transfer all governing responsibilities to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, ensuring Hamas has no future governing role in Gaza, facilitating Israeli withdrawals and deploying an international stabilising force to the region".

Also on Sunday, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia said Israel's rejection of the US plan threatened Trump's peace efforts.

Following Israel's rejection of the plan, there appeared to be a pause in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, though attacks have still continued.

The ceasefire, which came into effect on 10 October last year, remains in place.

However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has carried out near daily strikes since then.

More than 1,200 people have been killed since the ceasefire according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. Unicef says at least 300 children have reportedly been killed.

The Israeli military said on Sunday that it had targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad "terrorists" in Khan Younis and Nuseirat. Local medics said several people living in a tent camp in Khan Younis were injured.

Israel and Hamas accuse each other of ceasefire violations.

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Israel responded to the attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 73,000 people have been killed, including 21,280 children, according to the territory's health ministry.

The UN estimates that about 1.9 million people - 90% of Gaza's population - have been displaced since the war started.

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